Austin School of Fashion Design Blog

Children's Sewing Camp at ASFD

2008-05-19T09:06:00.000-07:00

Since Project Runway shined a light on the world of sewing and design, we have a new generation of kids that want to learn to how to make their own clothes and designs. Ironically, many of their moms don't know how to sew....we were all out there getting liberated and it left little time for this skill. But, nevertheless, the current youngsters want to learn.

Generations in the past learned from their mothers or grandmothers, but, the last few generations opted out of learning any skill that would continue to label them the "inferior species". So typing, cooking, sewing...out the window. Get your own coffee!

The children today are crazy to learn....everything. My niece knows how to cook, how to sew, how to skate, swim, play soccer AND make great grades! She is 13, but learned these skills when she was very young. She is driven to learn ...already wants to work in Australia with sharks!

She is not that unusual, from what I see here at the school......the children leave our classes wearing their skirts (or tool belts, for you guys).....proud to show off what they learned. They sew their garments over and over, wanting to get it right! Every once in a while, I will get a day dreamer, yawning and sleepy throughout the class....but usually it is because of too much sugar. It is almost always their diet...so I try to talk to them about what they are eating in the morning. ....and we talk while we sew.

I just realized that it is sort of like the old time quilting bee, women talking about their lives and sewing. These kids talk about everything while we are sewing....and in the end, they have learned a few things about themselves, and they get to wear their new garment out the door! I can always see a change in their self esteem. I try very hard to notice the shy kids, and pull them out to help teach the class. It is always always amazing to watch the change!

The drawing classes are really the most fascinating. People have such a mental block about learning to draw. But the students that took my first class had no prior drawing experience....the were all around 10-11 years old. We learned a new lesson every day for five days straight, and at the end of the week, all of the kids were drawing beautifully! I was flabberghasted! I hated for the week to be over....I had learned so much from that class. I really cried the day they finished. When people learn to draw, it is so exposing, and you cannot help but get really close to the student. As, you can see, I love this class.

In the summer, starting June 9th, we have one week classes for the kids....sewing, intermediate sewing, purse design (they love this class), and hatdesign. Just check the class schedule, and register your children early...the classes fill up quick! Mary Margaret

Austin School of Fashion Design Fashion Show!

2008-05-15T12:13:00.000-07:00

May 18, 2008

First things first!

The Austin School of Fashion Design Annual Fashion Show will be held June 7th at the beautiful Mexican American Cultural Center at 600 River Street. It is on Town Lake and is just a wonderful building, with plenty of room for our event. The exhibit of the illustrations and draping will start at 7pm and the fashion show starts at 8pm. We will be showing the students work. Please come!

Back to the blog......

Since we are now officially into summer, I thought I would use a summery text color just to brighten up the page a little. I have to stop myself from going any farther, for fear I will start decorating the borders and adding all sorts of "pretty things"! Stop me.

My best friends, Beth, Judy, and Laura have made it an annual thing to get together during the easter celebrations and decorate something....eggs, shoes, etc. They are not your normal easter eggs...I will try to download a few to show. Mainly, we just laugh ourselves into oblivion, getting together and pushing our "artsy fartsy" talent far as it will go! A few years ago, we decided to decorate shoes...we all went to walmart and bought a pair of open heel sling back shoes ($8.00)...did I mention the heels? $8.00 heels...ouch!

We all brought every box of craft stuff from our homes that we could carry, threw it all on the table, got out our favorite glue guns, and poured the wine. On your mark, get set, go!

Now, I want you to know that all of us are pretty good artists, all of us make our living at art, so you can imagine the potential here. But put four good friends together, and a box of glue guns, some fake flowers and plastic beads, and stand back, Ellie!

After a couple of hours of trying to outdo one another, we had our finished masterpieces....but the best part was actually putting them on our feet and walking out the door to go to dinner!!!!We all decided to wear our shoes out that night, and take a walk down Congress Avenue after our dinner. Man, oh, man....those were the most painful shoes that any of us had ever worn, but we hobbled along, laughing and crying at the same! But what a fun day!

My point in telling this story.....how did everything get so busy in all of our lives that we just don't have time for these get togethers? I hardly have time to look up, much less find my glue gun! But our friendships are so treasured...there is just so much love and laughter!

In the last two years, the school has take all of my free time...I'm not complaining, I would rather be there than almost anywhere else. I love watching the students learn and coming up with new ideas in fashion. Everyone is so driven to learn. But I forget that I have not seen my friends in ages and I miss playing with them. Judy, Beth, Laura, Jan, Virginia,Barbara, Connie, Carol.....my friends who have supported me every step have all taken a back seat to my school.

Hopefully they will all be there on June 7th, and some of you can enjoy them as much as I do.

Now that summer is here, the kids are out of school and we start all of the summer programs for the kids.....beginner sewing, intermediate sewing, illustration, hat design, purse design. The kids have a great time, and I am so impressed at how focused they all are. The classes last five days each, one week, for two hours a day. So the kids have an opportunity to take several classes if they wish. Kim Allbright and Ashley Raines have done a wonderful job in creating great classes for the kids...and the kids seem to really appreciate the creativity of the courses.

The adult classes stay the same, however, we don't teach the morning sewing classes, because there is not enough room with the children's classes. So, for just the summer the morning sewing classes change. We do still teach flat pattern in the morning.

I hope to see many of you at our fashion show, wearing your designs, or showing your illustrations, or just being in the audience supporting the students and admiring their creations.

Regards, Mary Margaret

GRACE JONES OF SALADO

2008-02-17T12:23:00.000-08:00

I know that most of you have heard me talk about Grace Jones of Salado, our iconic fashion maven from Texas. In the 1960’s, when Grace opened her famous salon, no one would have guessed that this small limestone building in little Salado Texas, completely away from the major fashion arenas would become so successful and legendary. Only a handful of salons in the entire United States could compete for the exclusivities that Grace garnered so easily. Valentino, Christian Lacroix, Dior, Geoffrey Beene, Lagerfield, Ungaro, Louis Feraud were only a few of the couture collections that competed for her attention. Her clients flew into Salado from all over the United States and Europe, finishing the last leg of their flight on a helicopter-landing pad that Grace had built in the back of her salon on the bank of the creek. It was nothing unusual to step out of the buzzing helicopter and walk straight in to a wandering cow, much to the surprise of her European clients who had never seen a cow before! The famous designer Count Sarmi squealed when he first saw the farm animal meandering around the outdoor runway built to show his newest collection. “Eewww…a coo, a coo, a coo!” Grace loved to tell this story, laughing at the inexperience of this aristocrat.
But her collection of friends were truly her best acquisitions, treasured companions…Loretta Young, Liz Carpenter, Erma Bombeck, Jane Sibley, and many many others who loved to share their lives and stories.
As notable as this second half of her “life well spent” was, Grace had already proved herself in many ways before her career in fashion. In World War II, Grace Rosanky Jones was among the elite flying squad of the WASP, the female pilots who risked their lives delivering combat planes.
Grace’s story is wonderfully rich. On February 16, 2008, Grace passed away, very quietly. I was fortunate to have known her and to have shared these past eight years with her. Grace knew that I was working on my master’s thesis, which was going to be a book about her, and she was generous enough to give me every morsel of her written collections…. her photographs, her publicity, her fashion show tapes, her conversations, her correspondences, her WASP collection, her thoughts, and her philosophies. She was truly an enigma, growing up in a ranch atmosphere, giving absolutely no indication of the future that she would mold for herself. I miss her terribly.
Most younger fashion students have no idea who Grace Jones is, and it would be well worth their time to study her life and career.
I had just graduated from The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and returned to Austin with all sorts of awards for my creations. Even with the accolades, I was still a novice and wanted to seek out mentors. I was too intimidated to call Grace Jones for an appointment, much less to even show her my collections to buy for her store. I was driving to Dallas to call on Neiman Marcus; I already had an appointment with the buyer. I decided to drop by Grace’s store, just to see what it looked like now. It never occurred to me that she would be in the store. Nevertheless, I stopped at a nearby gas station to change my clothes to be more presentable. I traveled in my regular clothes, so that my linens would not be rumpled when I called on my customers. So I took my white linen shirt and white linen pants, neatly pressed, into the restroom with me to put them on. I drove to Grace Jones on Main Street, and realized that I was shaking as I pulled into the parking lot. Who did I think I was? They are just going to laugh at me, and head me to the nearest K-Mart. It really took all of my nerve to get out of the car, and open those huge double doors into the salon.
Two women greeted me. One was quite petite, with long and elegant bones, and a short sleek hair cut, with a color that was a strawberry light blonde brown. Very attractive in an aristocratic way. She had on a short dress and she had great slender legs; it was the eighties and she was in the newest look. One gold bracelet; a gold pair of clip on earrings, and one gold ring. Her dress had a high collar. I asked if I might see Grace Jones, never imagining she was standing in front of me.
“I’m Grace Jones.” Her voice was old money; fine wine; rich thoroughbred; cashmere; melodic; King’s English spoken southern style. She reached out to shake my hand. I liked her instantly, and my raw nerves left me. I told her that I had a aunt who shopped with her, and that I had just started my own line of clothes and would love to make an appointment with her, at her convenience, of course, sometime in the future, to talk with her about fashion.
“What’s wrong with now?” she shot back to me. “Why don’t we go upstairs and I will show you around.”
If I was following the Queen of England, I would not have been more aware of my manners; my posture; my grammar; and last, but definitely right at the top, my own clothes! She asked her assistant to bring us a ginger ale (hadn’t had that in years…must be what the rich drink). We went into a salon hidden on the second floor that was right out of Paris. She told me that the clothes downstairs were merely decoys to satisfy the tourists, who wanted to say that they bought something from Grace Jones in Salado; but that they were not for her real customers, and her real customers knew it and appreciated it. The salon, the private showing arena for individuals, separated from other salons for private individuals, were all upstairs and decorated with the most sumptuous fabrics. The outer walls had chairs and Victorian couches, while the center of the room was used for display and alterations. Surrounded by mirrors on three walls, there was a wooden elevation, used as platform to stand on. Each room was it’s own little mini stage, complete with spectators. The assistant brought in beverages and we settled into a conversation about people we both knew, and then onto fashion. She brought out a dress that she described as a little something that one could throw on to go to the Beauty Parlor. I glanced at the price tag. $2400.00! Holy….! I could buy a car for that! But I kept my shock to myself. I talked about the hem and the line of the dress, sticking to what I knew best, and we quickly found a common ground.
That afternoon, Grace spent three hours with me, alone in the salon. Her assistant had gone home, and Grace was still eager to talk about what she had learned and to hear what I thought. She asked me if I would show her my collection, which I did. I brought it upstairs to the salon, and with all of the courage I could muster, I presented my collection as if I had been around the fashion world and back a dozen times. And Grace loved it! She ordered the entire collection, and even bought extras for herself!
Twenty years later, after Grace had retired, and had closed the store, she turned the building over to her nephew, John. The day Grace closed the store, after her last customer left, she locked the door, and went home. Everything was left just the way it was on the last day. John and his wife, Rhonda had cleaned most of the store. But Grace’s office had never been touched. He asked me to help him clean out this last vestige of Grace’s occupancy, because he thought I would know what to keep and what to throw away. There among the most fabulous Geoffrey Beene gown I have ever seen, along with Valentino jackets, Carolina Herrera, Anne Klein, was the suit that she had ordered from me for herself. Pinned to the wall was a picture of Grace at her home, wearing that suit. John gave the picture to me, and kept the suit for his daughter.
As the years went by, I would call Grace to invite her to market and to see my collection; but she usually went to Europe or New York and because she never called me to visit her at her salon, I never called her either; thinking that she had only bought my collection out of politeness that day.
Twenty years had passed, and I was teaching Fashion Design at the University of Texas, and I knew that Grace had retired. I called her, to re-introduce myself, and to ask if she would be a judge at the Senior Students final runway show. She was just as eager to help me, as she was the first time. We talked for a while on the phone. I was sure that she was pretending to remember me, but I was wrong.
“Mary Margaret, let me ask you something. Why in the world did you quit showing me your collection? I really would have liked to have had it for my customers, but you just gave me up.”
I explained that I had called her many times to come to market, but that she never came, and I just did not want to seem too persistent. She told me she never came to the Texas Market, and that she wanted me to call on her personally at her store, since she had had so much fun talking years before. She invited me over to Salado to spend the afternoon, and this time I went. We had a wonderful afternoon talking about fashion and designers and what the kids wear today. She took me into her dining room to find some stories that she had cut out of the paper about her retirement, and that is when I found out an even more incredible story about Grace Jones. There lying on the table, in boxes, under the table, in chairs was this unbelievable rich history of a young girl from Texas, who was among the first women pilots in World War II; followed by a career as a model working for the most successful modeling agency in New York; and ending with the Grace Jones of Salado Boutique. And in between these triumphs were a series of heart breaking disappointments that Grace never told the public.

Mary Margaret Quadlander

Austin School of Fashion Design and the Topic of Accreditation

2008-01-22T12:13:00.000-08:00

Usually it takes me six months to post another blog, but I have received quite a few inquiries about the topic of receiving college credits for attending my school. I would like to discuss this.
When I started the school, I was fresh from teaching at UT and St. Edward's, both college level. So my first thought was to investigate having the school accredited. I wanted the students to receive some sort of credit for taking my courses.
After a few months of investigation, I was more confused than you can imagine, and you that are home-schoolers, or teachers will probably understand how many different state departments get involved with this procedure. Some of the offices are even in Georgia....not even in the state of Texas. Don't understand that one!
Each department had their own set of qualifications....but all agreed that I would be limited to who could attend my school. I could teach children, or I could teach adults, but each would go through an admittance process, and I would be grading students' work. Grading students' work is not my idea of fun, having done that at both colleges, and I certainly did not want to limit who could attend the school and who could not.
When I taught at UT, many of my students asked me to start a design school, so that they could further their experience and skills. Most were not interested in getting credit...they were already in college, and just wanted to learn more about the fashion design industry and skills needed. I have two physicians, three psychiatrists, four attorneys, three engineers, four psychologists, as well as many more highly trained professionals, who are happy in their careers, but just want to learn fashion design. They don't need credit. Then I have other younger students who want to get their feet wet, and see if this is a career they want to follow. And there are other very young students, enamored with fashion , who just want to learn to sew correctly and design a little. Other students are trying to get into FIT or Parsons in New York, and need help, sort of like a prep school, to get into these very competitive schools. And, Last I have a group of very serious students, very focused and very certain of their direction who want to learn and learn quickly. Julia Plume, Ashley Raines, Ben Reingold, Rick Gonyo, Kim Allbright, Chantal Thomas, Josie Jesser, Laurie Mont are just an example of my students who hit the sidewalk running...took all of the courses and have already put collections together ; are working for top designers; have started their own businesses; or have been accepted into the top schools because of their improved portfolios. I am amazed at how quickly they learn.
I do not want to give any of these students a grade, nor do I want to tell them that their skills are not good enough to get into my school. Quite often, the very student who has struggled so much in the beginning makes huge leaps of progress in the middle of their learning. I see it over and over again. Their self esteem changes...not because they have learned how to sew, or even draw. Fashion design is such a mathematical process, yes, really.......and when students understand that, they understand so much more! It opens the door to architecture, engineering, constructing, art....etc. And I think when self esteem improves, then students learn to challenge themselves more.
So......this is my argument for not seeking accreditation for my school. I want students to be free to take what courses they choose, not be worried about grades, and I want to spend my time enjoying my students, teaching, and learning, instead of filling out papers and grading work!
Please feel free to reply to my post....I would appreciate hearing what you think.
One more thing....we are having a fashion runway show on April 19th. Anyone who has attended, is attending the school can be in the show. I will need to see your work ahead of time. I will let you know the cut off date for judging. Thanks!
Be Well
Mary Margaret Quadlander
Austin School of Fashion Design

Fashion Designing 2008 in Austin Texas

2008-01-10T16:27:00.000-08:00

Austin School of Fashion Design started our new session on January 7 with 52 new students for this six week session. The timing was great with Project Runway starting up again after a long wait....so we are all watching to see what happens on this season. I added a commercial from our school to the first Project Runway sessions, and we have gotten a whole new group of students from the commercials. And we also created some new classes including Hat Design, Men's Shirt Design, Grading, and Children's Clothing Design. Go to the class page to see the pictures.
We had some other great news this past year....Our former student and now instructor at Austin School of Fashion Design, Julia Plume, won a very competitive design challenge this year called the Texas Search for the Next Top Designer. It was sponsored by the Dallas Fashion Incubator, and Julia's winning of this challenge was impressive. She took all of our courses and then read everything she could get her hands on, and put her first collection together immediately and sold it to two of Austin's best boutiques...The Garden Room and C. Jane's!!!! I am very proud of her, and can't wait to see what she is going to do next.
Julia is teaching two classes here that will really be of interest to the student who is ready to put their collection together, and doesn't know where to start. Julia's first class is "Marketing, Manufacturing,and Presenting Your Collection". This class takes the student through all of the steps of marketing a collection, starting with textile shows in the United States and Europe, picking a showroom and sales representative, finding a manufacturer, preparing first samples and line sheets, designing and buying labels and hang tags, delivery dates and shipment rules, as well as finding graders and pattern makers and sewers. This is a very indepth and informative class.
The second class that she is teaching this session is "Creating and Constructing Your Collection". This class allows the students to form their own design company, pick fabrics together, and design a collection together. The students will then create the flat patterns, cut the garments, and sew them together. The Collection will be in our Spring Fashion Show that we are planning for April. This also is a great class, and encourages the student to think in terms of collections and pieces. Sewing experince and flat pattern skills are necessary for this class.
Our next bit of good news is....we are adding a retail section to our school where we will carry all of these hard to find design tools that the students need, such as pattern paper, oak tag paper, good scissors, hip rulers, clippers, flat pattern books, etc. There is No Where to buy these necessary supplies, and I feel frustrated for the students trying to find these things. Most of the sewing supplies in Austin are geared toward quilters and they just are not what the student is looking for in design. So very shortly, we will be carrying those supplies. YEAH!!!!!
Please go to the About Us page on our website and read the bio information on all of our instructors. Julia won a great award, but all of our instructors, Kim Allbright, Ashley Raines, and Rick Gonyo are all equally qualified and creative professionals.
I wish everyone a Happy New Year.....Happiness, Health, Serenity, and Creativity. Be good to yourself. Mary Margaret Quadlander

Austin School of Fashion Blog Oct.13

2007-10-13T13:19:00.000-07:00

We are just now beginning to feel the first coolness of autumn and all of those fall clothes that the stores start selling in August are still hanging in our closets. I can remember when I was a teenager in high school, and that first big fall football game....all of the girls just had to show up at that evening game wearing our new wool straight skirts and our new fall sweaters. The whole stadium smelled like Aqua Net Hairspray because we had cemented our big bubble hairdo's for the evening with the spray. God, it was hot! We were all sweating in our fall garments, that we just had to wear....but that was just the way it was. First night game of the season, and out game the fall clothes. Back then we all wore slips and hose and girdles....a couple more layers to add to the heat. And if you were dating a guy on the football team, you wore his big wool and leather letter jacket on top of all of it, and a big old pom pom flower, the size of your head, on the shoulder of the jacket. Hotter than an hot box, but that hair did not move. The damp humidity of the evening turned it into cotton candy, and if you moved any part of your bubble "do", the whole helmet of hair moved at the same time. We could not comb or even brush it out when we got home, for it was too stiff. We had to get in the shower and wash it to get all of the glue out! Ah.....those were the days! I am waiting for socks and loafers to come back in .....my all time favorite!
The vintage clothing scene is really happening these days. I see everything I ever wore in my teens walking into the school...worn in a whole new way. I see a lot of the old becoming new again, redesigning vintage is the new wave. Austin School of Fashion Design has been teaching a workshop on that very idea for over a year now....taking out of date clothing and making it current. It's a great way to recycle clothing that is still wearable, but just needs a little updating.
I even had several classes on re designing sweaters...those old bulky sweaters that you can find at goodwill for .99cents....even the ones with holes. Virginia Eubanks and I created some really incredible new garments with the old sweaters...she actually wore hers to a party, and I wore mine to class the next day. This idea of "saving" something, and making it new again.....it is a good metaphor for life, actually. Taking something useless and hopeless and giving it a new life. Isn't that what we all strive for in life....getting rid of useless things and useless actions that keep us unable to move forward in life? Re-creating ourselves into viable, hopeful, and useful people is certainly a great way to save our own lives. Let's start!
Sew Much to Do, Sew Little Time
Mary Margaret Quadlander

Mary Margaret's Fashion Post for August 29, 2007

2007-08-29T12:33:00.000-07:00

As I said, I am not too good on adding to my blog on a regular basis. Those of you who have been by the school lately understand why there is so little time.

We added a downstairs for the additional children's programs, and it was great to have the extra space, even though the re-building of downstairs took a while to complete, and is still being changed. It is bright, and everyone loves working down stairs. Music, air conditioning, big tables, sewing machines, what more could you need?
The summer program was so much fun.....the children's classes were better than I thought possible...I just cannot believe the work that the kids did! They learn so fast, and are so focused and determined!

We added all sorts of classes for the kids.....skirt design, shoe design, purse design, fashion illustration, advanced fashion illustration, draping. They were amazing! Can't wait until next summer. For the fall, we decided to add children's sewing classes to our saturday schedule, lasting five weeks. We had immediate enrollments, so the kids are really wanting to learn to sew.....liberated and sewing all at the same time!
For the adults, we have added six week sloper development, advanced fashion illustration/portfolio, and learning to use industrial machines to our curriculum. Check the new schedule, and register as quickly as possible.

On another note, somewhat sad for me and my family, my Father, Ted Quadlander, passed away on August 14. Although he was 86, it was very unexpected. He just fell to the floor that morning, and I hope died instantly. For a man who lived his whole life being curious and ready to take on any new adventure, his death has been hard to accept. While I am so thankful that it was immediate, it is still hard to say goodbye to someone like him. It is like watching a huge oak tree go down.

I am the oldest of six children..me, Greg, Cheryl, Pat, Mike, and Gary. My dad taught us all to ride a bike, to swim, to play baseball, golf, basketball, softball, to compete in track, volleyball, badmitton, target shooting, ping pong, tennis, anything and everything that had to do with competition and athletics. In 1951, he coached his Austin little league team to the play offs in Williamport, Pennsylvania for the Little League World Series. They came in second, and when they returned to Austin, the whole town showed up for a parade on Congress Avenue! It was the talk of Austin for years. Some of his players from that year showed up for dad's funderal...they had so much respect for him!

I went to catholic school and there were always sports for the girls, but once I transferred to public school, there were no sports for girls.....I guess we were just supposed to stand around look pretty for the football players....pass the hairspray, please! I rounded up some friends to start a girls basketball team, and asked my father if he would be the coach. None of us could play worth a dang, but we would head over to east austin once a week and challenge the girls over there at the rec center to a game. They slaughtered us everytime...but my dad hung in there with us until we couldn't find any other teams willing to play us....we weren't a big enough challenge, I am sure.

I learned to play golf when I was a teenager, along with my brother. Dad would take us out to practice range, and help us with our swings. I beat Sandra Hainey when I was 16 years old! She later joined the PGA. I think he mourned the fact that I didn't pursue golf more earnestly. But I had a boyfriend at the time who was terrible at golf, so I quit playing so that I would not embarrass him by beating him.

In high shcool, my dad coached our girls powder puff football team at Sidney Lanier. It was supposed to be flag football...no rough stuff. HA! There was plenty of rough stuff, I am telling you! We played our hearts out, tackling, pushing, shoving, whatever it took. I was a senior, and my dad always coached the junior class...so he was the enemy! I tried to steal his plays one day...I knew he kept them hidden in his sock drawer, but dang, he had moved them. His team won, as they always did. My best friend and I were lying on the field after the last whistle, having just missed a throw that would have tied the game. We were crying our eyes out. I didn't speak to my dad for a week!

He taught me how to drive when I was 12....we lived out in the country. The first time I ever heard my dad cuss was that day...I was trying to learn to drive our manual transmission Corvair, and I let the car stall, and then I kept stalling it, not quite able to master the clutch and the gas. Oh...I forgot to say...we were stalled on the railroad track with a train coming! My dad kept saying, "easy, easy, let out the clutch, push down on the gas at the same time, easy easy", and then "Holy ----! Move over!" I don't know what startled me more, my dad popping the clutch so fast we were airborne, the train whizzing by behind us, or my dad cussing. I think it was the cussing.

He contracted paralytic polio when I was six. My brother was four, my sister, two, and my brother Pat had just been born. Dad was in the iron lung, paralyzed from the waist up. There was very little hope. I think that the doctors fully expected my father to die. It was 1953...polio was thought to be incredibly contagious. I was taken out of school, and our family was pretty much exiled from the neighborhood.

My dad survived...through the well of determination and perserverance that we would come to see for the rest of his life.

I mention only a few of the many many memories that I have of my father, because it is in this foundation that I realized how important it is to be perservering and how important it is for girls to have male mentors.

My father was not the most pleasant person to be around, in spite of all his assets that I just mentioned. The physical effects of polio limited his use of his hand and arm, and I know that it was angered him endlessly to have to accept his limitations. But he would strap a golf club, or baseball bat to his hand and off he went....never ever crying over spilt milk!! There were eventually six children...I am not sure that my father even wanted one! He liked to schedule his life on his own terms, and not have to answer to anyone else. But inspite of all of that anger and emotional un-availability, he still managed to in-still in us a spirt of perserverance and determination, curiousity and dogged stubborness. He was incredible survivor, working for 52 years as a stock broker for Merrill, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner, and Smith. He retired when he was 83, and even then, he missed his job desperately. His eyes had started giving him trouble, and he was having difficulty seeing to drive his car.

We all thought that he would never quit working.

I kow that I owe my father for the gift of determination. There is not much that I am afraid of trying...unless it is jumping out of an airplane! Dad never seemed to be too suprised or even notice our accomplishments...he really expected us to do well, and rise above. He never saw my school. His favorite saying was "wipe the blood off and keep playing!" and we all heard it often growing up.

It is so important for children to believe that they can accomplish anything! I try very hard to get this across to my students...set high goals for yourself. Don't expect to have a perfect childhood in order to accompish your goals. Don't expect your parents to be perfect. Don't let fear stop you. Cut yourself loose from people who bring you down, who make you doubt your ability. Just gently cut them loose. Take care of your mind, your body, your wit, your spirit....if any one of those gets weak, everything weakens.

Like most men of his generation, my father was an enigma, tough, hard to please, hard to reach, rough exterior. But his actions spoke so much louder than his gruffness. He taught all of us to be perservering, determined, funny, curious, competitive, and to never quit. What more could a kid ask for?

Austin School of Fashion Design News

2007-05-26T20:21:00.000-07:00

May 26, 2007

Greetings Fashionistas,
In June we will be celebrating our one year anniversary! I can hardly believe that we have been open a year..time has just flown by. To celebrate, every past or present student at Austin School of Fashion Design is invited to participate in a
South Austin meets the New York Runway
June 7th (first thursday)
7:00 p.m.
B.Y.O.LC (bring your own lawn chair!)
We will have a runway show in front of the school, and you can show your talents!!!. There will be runway music, lights, and action. Even if you don't want to show, please come to celebrate the One Year Anniversary! I look forward to seeing everyone! Please call me for the details!

June 7th, 7:00 p.m. on the Runway!

You can model, or ask your friends to model your garments that you have created since being a student at our school. I think it will be a blast!
In the past year, we had 423 enrollments, which is just incredible! With the new summer classes for children, I realized that we needed more space, so we will be enlarging to include the downstairs starting with our classes on June 18. The children's classes are filling up fast, so if you want to enroll your child, better hurry!
We have added so many classes to the adult curriculum because of student requests, so be sure and check the class schedule since it has changed so much. We have added classes in purse design, corset design, costume design, skirt and pant sewing techniques, advanced flat pattern and advanced fashion illustration/portfolio. These are classes that focus on specific techniques, so if you are wanting to enhance your understanding of those garment/accessory constructions, sign up for these classes!
The Sloper development class is now a six week class...so that we have more time to create accurate slopers as well as add alteration techniques to this class. The one day Saturday class did not leave enough time to discuss alterations, or to give the student a familiarity with using the slopers. So this is a welcome change.

For other news, I want to take this opportunity to welcome Marques Harper, our new fashion writer to the American Statesman. Marques is new to Austin and takes over a position that is so important to those of us in the profession of Fashion Design. A knowledgeablefashion writer can make a big difference in the way fashion is perceived, so I want to congratulate the Statesman for taking time to hire Marques. I had the pleasure of meeting him at our school last Wednesday, and look forward to reading his comments on our fashion scene. Jenny Miller who is also with the Statesman, wrote a nice article on our school in the Style Matters section of the paper, and I hope to continue this nice relationship with both of them, encouraging them to meet the next generation of Austin Designers at our school.

Julia Plume, who has taken all of the courses that I taught, has now created her own collection of better wear dresses, skirts, pants, jackets, and tops! Even better, she has already written orders with some of Austin's best boutiques, including The Garden Room, and C. Jane. Congratulations Julia!

The new session starts June 18, so please check the schedule, and call me if your want to ask any questions. Please come to the June 7th celebration, even if you don't want to be in the Runway Show. We need plenty of audience members and I look forward to seeing everyone again, too!!! My best, Mary Margaret Quadlander

A New Class Schedule and a New Website

2006-12-03T19:45:00.000-08:00

Greetings! I hope everyone took some time to enjoy the glorious weather we had until this week, and for those of you who like cold weather, it is still glorious! Speaking of glorious, my school is off and running to the point that we are filling up the schedule with full classes every six weeks.

Julia Plume, who has taken every class that I ever offered here and has now started a line of her own that she will be introducing at Market in the Spring, will now be teaching at the school and helping with some of the beginner sewing classes.

We have settled on a schedule that I think suits everyone; however, there are still times during the day for open studio, and I would be more than interested in hearing your suggestions for more classes.

A few more classes that might be of personal interest to some of you are workshops on Vintage Clothing and on Costuming. Both of these classes will be on Saturdays, one day classes. I know many of you are very interested in Vintage, the collectibility of these garments, preservation techniques, etc. So we will have a visiting lecturer for this class. Also, we have had many requests for a Costuming Class, and we will also have a visiting lecturer for this workshop. If they both are popular, we will turn them into six week courses.

Many students have asked for sewing classes that will take them beyond beginning and intermediate "how to sew" classes. Advanced sewing will be that class.

So please explore our new website, and I hope you like the changes. The registration page is more user friendly than it has been in the past. The schedule page is very easy if you just click on any class on any day, it will give the entire description, time, date, cost, and length of the class.

Once more I am open to suggestions for class, so feel free to write me....be well enjoy your holidays. We will be having a Christmas Open House on Dec. 13 from 5pm-9pm. I will be sending out another invitation for that party, so look for it in your e-mail! Everyone is welcome to come and help us celebrate!

Thanks, and BE WELL.

ASFD in Tribeza Magazine

2006-09-30T12:17:00.000-07:00

Greetings! Two more weeks left in this first fall session, and then we are on to the second session which starts Oct. 16. Classes are going very well, and I have gotten suggestions for more classes. We have added a sewing class. What used to be advanced sewing is now intermediate. The new advanced sewing class tackles more design techniques, such as pockets, or re-constructing and then re-sewing a garment. Also, we will learn Rouching techniques, adding pull cords to gather a cloth, zipper techniques, waistbands, and advanced collar design. So many of the students tell me that they want to learn more about sewing an intricate pattern, so I thought that this advanced class would do that.

Another announcement! I have received so many calls of congratulations for the article in TRIBEZA MAGAZINE. TRIBEZA did a wonderful story on our school, photographs and all, and I am so proud to be in their magazine. Zarghun and his staff have been at the forefront of all of the new slick local art magazines that we see everywhere now. But TRIBEZA was the first! It is always hard when you are the first to do something...changing the mind set of the public. But TRIBEZA has stayed true to its' vision, with a continuous artful perspective on the Austin scene. The magazine covers all of the ARTS....beautiful photographs from architecture to shoes! I have saved every copy since they first started publishing! I don't know Zarghun that well, but over the years, we have had several conversations about his magazine, and I have learned a thing or two from him about staying the course! When you are the first to tackle an idea, whether it is in publishing or fashion design, you will be the one to open the doors....and then overnight, your idea is being copied by everyone! It happens in fashion design all of the time. But our job, as designers and publishers is to keep one step ahead, keep moving onto the next good idea. So, thanks Zarghun, for the advice that you did not know you gave to me!

The school is going great! I am overwhelmed by the positive response and by the wonderful friendships that I have made with the students.

Austin-Style Runway

2006-08-20T17:40:00.000-07:00

Thanks Everyone! Notice that we have added draping and marketing your collections. Now about our Austin-Style Runway. I have meet with several people to get this thing going....everyone will be getting an e-mail from me within the next few weeks. It is happening, and I already have judges and model agents signed up to help judge the applicants. Stay tuned! Also, if you want to enroll your child in Monday after-school sewing classes, please go to the website and send in a registration, or e-mail me. Thanks!!!

New Classes

2006-08-09T13:25:00.000-07:00

The plans for Austin Runway (like Project Runway) have begun. I cannot say too much as this point, because I am still meeting with sponsors, but it will definitely happen! This is really going to be a wonderful and fun experience for so many of the talented artists that we have in Austin. Please notice that the schedule has changed on some of the classes. Because the school year has started, I have changed the classes to two hours long, instead of three. However, the classes last six weeks now, instead of four.....so you are getting the same amount of learning. I hope this suits everyone's desires...let me hear from you. I have also added draping, and how to market your collection, so check our the descriptions. Hope everyone has had a great summer!!

One Month Anniversary

2006-07-09T19:37:00.000-07:00

Well, we are certainly off and running. The school has been opened for one month. We more than doubled our enrollment this month, which pleases me to no end. There have been a lot of hurdles to jump over, but mainly everything has been one great adventure.

I am signing a long term lease this month....the experiment at South Congress looks like the perfect spot, and for now, I seem to have found a great landlord, willing to let me grow. Those are hard to find in Austin, as many of you know.

So, where to begin?........i have heard from a lot of my ex-students at UT....several have enrolled in my classes to update their skills. Some have come in just to see me....I am so glad to see every one of them! We have had two parties, and many of them have shown up to say hi. Speaking of having parties.....we had an open house this past Sunday, and we all had a great time....even sold some fabric during the party. By the way, I have a lot of fabric left from my production days, and am selling it for $3 and $4 a yard. Linens, taffetas, satins, etc. If you want to come in and look, feel free.

Now......for the big news...we are offering new classes..I am uploading the new August schedule, this week. The sloper classes have moved to Saturday...one day class. Everyone is happy about that move.

Everyday, someone comes into the school with an idea for a class....I want the school to stay on a professional note, since these are the classes most needed...but I am hearing a lot of ideas for classes. What do you think? Let me hear from you. Also, I WANT TO START A PROJECT RUNWAY FOR AUSTIN!!!! Let's do it!

New Classes Coming

2006-06-22T17:35:00.000-07:00

Almost a month into the new school, and everything is working out wonderfully. The children's classes are great fun....I will post some pictures! And the professional classes are just what I wanted. Everyone seems to be very excited about the atmosphere, and we are adding a lot of new classes to the July schedule. Any suggestions on classes that you would like to see taught...feel free to e-mail me.

Welcome New Students

2006-06-03T18:38:00.000-07:00

Thank you to my students from UT who surprised me today with a wonderful visit. I have such high hopes for their successes......great, great students! We had the opening, and little by little, the classes are filling up! The children's and adult's classes. The space looks great, and I am looking forward to meeting all of the new students.

Austin School of Fashion Design is Here!

2006-05-24T18:06:00.000-07:00

O.K. This is where I tell you how all of this happened and hopefully get some great feedback started.

I have wanted to start this school for some time now.....after 20 years as a Fashion designer, I was invited to teach fashion design at The University of Texas in Austin. I fell in love with the teaching part, and really out of love with the academic bureaucracy part. Fighting the system in order to do something good for the students takes the wind out of a good teacher's sails. And unfortunately, the students don't get the best. It took one year for my students to start begging me to open my own school. The kids loved me, and I certainly did love them......I really cared about them learning everything that I could teach them. Austin School of Fashion Design is certainly dedicated to my students at UT, who I still hear from on a daily basis and have inspired me, at this stage, to begin this school.

I graduated from FIT in New York, and there really is nothing better than FIT. Now..... I loved Project Runway, and Parsons did a really good job of hosting, but FIT is still where it's at. I tell all of my students, if you have a chance to take anything at FIT, do it! So, this is what got me to start this school. I was watching Project Runway, and every week my students and I would analyze everyone's work on the show, and I could see the excitement in their faces. I just love to see students eyes light up, when they are excited about learning. My students wouldn't miss a class. I have received an invaluable amount of encouragement from them, and they are, really, why I am beginning this Fashion Design School.

Fashion Design is a very unique profession. A few years ago I was invited to take part in a symposium sponsored by the fabulous School of Architecture at the University of Texas. Dean Fritz Steiner opened my eyes to the wonderful relationship between architecture and design. I even added a class teaching exactly that correlation. It was at that symposium that I realized that Fashion Design is almost exactly like architecture...we design with the same process. I challenged the entire panel to explain to me how my skirt was made, and you would think a group of architects who can build anything would have been able to do it. One person solved the design. Fashion design is left brain and right brain all at the same time. The major approach to design is mathematical, which surprises most. So, students have to use math, as well as anatomy to understand the body structure.....and it is a moving structure.....so our design must be able to move. Designers also need to understand Textile science. An MBA is almost necessary to start your own company...learning importing and exporting laws for textiles and manufacturing. And then an Accounting degree helps to run your company. Manufacturing a collection requires a knowledge of all the components of construction, from sewing, to flat pattern, to drafting, to computer generated designing. And, last but certainly not least, is the Art part of it. It takes all of these factors to understand the elements of a beautiful garment and how to sell it. What I just explained, is the reason I wanted to start this school. We all need to be excited about what we do in life, and Fashion Design is an incredibly fascinating process; challenging every part of our brain. I am so excited to get this School open and going, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Mary Margaret Quadlander